Lo, I Will Tell You a Mystery
by CharlesTheBold
Summary: After God advises Joan to work with her father on a case, she meets another unusual high school girl. Crossover with another teengirl TV series identified inside the story. PLEASE REVIEW
1. Take Your Daughter to Work

**LO, I WILL TELL YOU A MYSTERY**

_(Disclaimer: I have no business connection with either JOAN OF ARCADIA. My only purpose in writing this story is to have fun and maybe share it)_

_(Author's Note: This story is part of a series that takes place in the year after the JOAN OF ARCADIA TV show ended. A listing of the other stories is on my profile. The main events that have happened since May 2005 are _

_Joan has let Grace, Luke, and Adam into her secret _

_Luke has been promoted into the same grade as Joan, Grace, and Adam._

_(3) Grace and Luke have spent one night together _

_Joan and Adam are engaged_

_This story is set in April, 2006_)

**Chapter 1 Take Your Daughter to Work**

Dinner was an important ritual in the Girardi household. This Tuesday night, even Kevin and his wife Lily were participating, and so was Joan, who had an important engagement later that evening. As a result, Will Girardi felt that he had obligation to warn his wife and the others:

"I'm afraid that I'll be out of town Thursday and Friday this week."

"Very well, dear," said Helen. "Is it business or pleasure?"

"Sort of a combination. An old colleague of mine is investigating a case, and he's flying to Washington from Southern California to follow a lead. He's not familiar with the crime situation in this area of the country, so I agreed to give him some pointers."

"If it's taking him away from Southern California at this time of year," opined Lily, "it must be important."

Her in-laws laughed. Lily still tried to keep up the Surfer Girl image, that in reality she had dropped such sports at her marriage, replacing with activities that she could share with Kevin.

Joan herself wasn't paying much attention, being pre-occupied with recent news.

Glynis Friedman had had her baby April 15, a few days ago. Though Joan had been the first friend to learn of the pregnancy, and had played an important role persuading Friedmann to do the decent thing and marry her, it was still hard to get used to the idea. There was supposed to be an un-crossable line between Kids and Parents, and Glynis had crossed it.

To be sure, there had been other teen pregnancies at Arcadia High. Brianna the cheerleader, and Bonnie. But both of those girls had given up their babies for adoption, and tried to return to "normal life", while Glynis had decided to be a wife, mother, and genius.

For that matter, Joan herself was getting married in June. It was possible that she could conceive after the wedding and become a mother before another year had passed. She'd have to talk to Adam about that. In the meantime, stay on the bright side and congratulate Glynis.

Glynis lived only a couple of blocks from the Girardis, so Joan decided to walk. But when she had covered half the distance, she saw a familiar figure approaching her on the sidewalk and thought: _uh-oh._

The man certainly did not look threatening. He was bearded, and dressed in shabby clothes, and was guiding some half of dozen dogs, some of which looked much more threatening than he did. An average observer might consider him a poor but honest man, trying to earn some extra dollars by walking wealthier clients' dogs. But Joan knew that he was the Almighty in disguise.

No point in dodging an all-seeing God. Joan walked up, merely staying out of the aggressive dogs' range. "Hi. What's happening?"

"Millions of things," said Dog-walker God. "But one in particular is, your father is going out of town in a couple of days on a detective case."

"That's right."

"Ask if you can go with him."

"Huh? I've got school!"

"There is more than one way to learn things, Joan." He guided the dogs away with one hand and made his characteristic wave with another.

Joan sighed. So she had been saddled with another mission. At least this one was fairly clear.

----

When she got home, her father was sitting on the living room sofa, looking through an old scrapbook, probably concerning his old friend. He looked up as Joan came in. "Hi, darling. How was Glynis?"

"Doing well as she can, under the circumstances. I learned a lot more about labor and delivery than I wanted to know."

"May come in handy someday when it's your turn."

"I hope to have some other life experiences first. Dad, could you take me with you on your trip?"

"Why do you ask?"

Joan had rehearsed an argument on the way home. "Well, you know I'm taking AP Law. But law deals with crime only the last stage, with everything safe and formalized in the courtroom. I ought to learn about the other stages, how you catch the guy and find the evidence that the court demands."

"Interesting idea. But what about school?"

"Seniors get some leeway. If I convince Mr. Harbison -- he's my law teacher -- that this is valuable experience, he can talk to Mr. Price and get me excused for a couple of days."

"Fine.. Tell Mr. Harbison what you told me, and I'm sure you'll succeed. Then I'll call the hotel in Washington and switch to a double room.

-----------------------

By the time father and daughter reached the northern tip of Washington, Will Girardi was fully in the spirit of things.

"My friend says he brought his daughter with him as well -- he's training her in the business. It's a delight to a father when his kids decide to follow in his footsteps. I thought at one point it would be Luke, who was always so curious."

"He still is, Dad. It's just that he likes investigating the universe, not people."

"Hmm, yes, but that's a little hard for me to relate to. When you're investigating people, you always have to allow the possibility that they have something to hide, that you have to ferret out.. The universe, at least, isn't going to lie to you."

"Luke quotes Einstein as saying 'God is subtle but not malicious'," said Joan.

"God?" Will, an agnostic, was obviously surprised at the sudden entrance of the divine into the conversation.

This was getting awkward. Joan did have something to hide, and that was her relationship with God. Her father would never understand that. Fortunately they were discussing Luke, not herself, "Luke said Einstein identified God as the law behind the universe." Luke also said he had a lot of trouble associating the Law Behind the Universe with human forms like Cute Boy God and Cowgirl God. Joan just accepted it.

Fortunately the traffic thickened inside the city, and Dad had to concentrate on the road. Eventually they reached their hotel, checked in to leave their baggage, then got back in the car to meet Dad's friend.

Will pulled into a motel parking lot. "Now you can start learning how to deduce character from clues, Joan. What can you deduce from the fact that my friend chose this motel to stay in?"

"That he's poor?" Joan asked, comparing the place in her mind with their own hotel.

"But remember that he paid for a cross-country airline ticket. Actually two, because he brought his daughter as well."

"He spends money when he must, but is very careful not to waste it?"

"Better. And if this was a criminal we were chasing, that would tell me something about the crimes he might commit. Gambling would be too reckless, but he might react violently to a threat to his loot. Of course, I trust my friend completely. Let's go; he said he'd meet us in the lobby."

It was a small lobby that nobody would have reason to hang around in, and so the friend was easy to find. He was quite a contrast to Dad. Balding head rather than Dad's full head of hair, a high-pitched voice compared to Dad's baritone. Yet Joan could see a resemblance between the two as they shook hands warmly. "Joan, Keith Mars. Keith, this is my daughter Joan."

"Pleased to meet you, Joan," said Keith. He swung his arm to indicate a short blonde girl sitting a short distance away, regarding the newcomers closely. "And this is my daughter, Veronica. Veronica Mars."

TBC

_(Second Disclaimer: Needless to say, I have no business connection with VERONICA MARS either)_

_(Author's Note: As I said, this story is set in April, 2006. From the point of view of the VERONICA MARS series, it is late in season 2. Both Joan and Veronica are seniors in high school_)


	2. Girl Talk

**LO, I WILL TELL YOU A MYSTERY**

_(Author's Note: VERONICA fans know that the girl frequently narrates her episodes in voice-over, commenting on the goings-on. I'm assuming that Veronica's comments are from her diary. I'm also trying to catch the way Veronica mood-swings between aloof commentary and deeply felt responses)_

**Chapter 2 Girl Talk**

Several hours later Veronica Mars was to log onto her thoroughly encrypted diary and write up the day.

_Dear Diary:_

_Met the Girardis this afternoon over late lunch. Old Girardi is straightforward enough: a good detective like my Dad, except that he didn't have his police career ruined by the Kanes.. There's something odd about the girl. Seems to be a sheltered innocent, but I think she has a secret. Watches what she says all the time, seems anxious when attention is focused on her. Of course, I may be oversensitive to such things. Probably the secret is something really boring, like she's sleeping with her boyfriend while her Dad thinks she's still a virgin. There are things I conceal from my own Dad, so I guess I should keep my nose out of Joan's business._

_Dad's explained the Rivers case to Mr. Girardi. The Mrs thought her husband was seeing another woman. I trailed Rivers, and eventually saw a meeting -- not with a girl, but with a thug I recognized, an enforcer for a local loan shark. The only odd thing was, the loan shark was safely in jail in San Diego. Dad told Mrs. Rivers, she told her husband, and he finally owned up that his problem was a bad debt and not adultery. Ergo, Dad and I are off the case and no longer getting paid. Really, no good deed goes unpunished._

_But a week later the Rivers had a bad auto accident--_

----

Joan gasped. "What's wrong?" asked the Mars girl.

"My brother Kevin was in an auto accident," Joan murmured. "He may be paralyzed for life."

"I'm terribly sorry," said Mars. "But then, you can understand how outraged I am at the idea that the Rivers' accident was deliberate. Anything can happen in an auto accident; it's wanton violence."

"You're sure it was deliberate?" pressed Will.

"Oh, yeah. Seems a new loan shark took over the business, and the Rivers got a note from their new creditor -- carefully phrased, but too well timed to be anything but a veiled threat."

"It looks to me like you have enough to go to the police," said Will. "Why don't you, particularly since the Rivers are no longer paying you?"

Mars sighed. "First, I have to explain about Neptune, California. It's not your average city. It's a vacation resort well known in that area of the country, and I don't mean Disney. People go there to have fun, often illicit. They don't want an effective police department looking over their shoulders. They want a slack one, and that's what they got. The Sheriff is named Lamb, and he's an idiot."

Joan was startled to notice a look of hatred pass over Veronica's features for a second before the other girl composed herself. For some reason, Veronica despised Lamb.

"As for pay," Mars went on. "The loan shark had another client who doesn't want to be identified, whom we'll call X. X lucked out -- got an inheritance that let him settle his debt, but he still wants to nail the creditor. When I traced a financial link to here in Maryland, he agreed to pay for our airplane tickets and some other expenses to investigate. That's how we got here."

"I see," said Will. "I'll be glad to help -- auto accidents are horrible enough without somebody causing them on purpose. Let's go up to your room to see what you have on this guy. Joan, why don't you girls take the car and go sightseeing while we're doing the dull stuff?

"But--" started Veronica, who obviously didn't like being lumped in with "you girls". She sort of reminded Joan of Grace. But she acquiesced at a gesture from her father. "Okay. Memorials, here we come."

------

After two and a half years of service, Joan had learned to guess how her divine missions worked. She didn't think this loan shark business was her thing. Far more likely, the mission would involve the other girl, Veronica. As she drove her father's car south toward the big park on her map, she tried to chat the girl up.

"It must be a rotten kind of life," Joan said. "Having to spy on philanderers, I mean."

"Oh, yes," replied Veronica with obvious sarcasm. "I'm shocked -- SHOCKED! -- to find out what goes in people's bedrooms." Joan, who seldom saw movies filmed earlier than her own generation, was to find out later that Veronica was adapting a famous line from CASABLANCA. "But there are advantages. Most people have to pay for porn videos to see the racy stuff; I get paid for it. Not every girl has a father who can afford to shelter her from the world.."

"I'm NOT sheltered," Joan retorted, finding that last remark vaguely insulting. "You heard about my brother. I had a serious illness two years ago, Lyme Disease. And one of my best friends got murdered --"

"_What_?".

Joan pulled into a curbside parking space. Navigating an unfamiliar city's traffic while brooding on Judith's fate would be dangerous. "Her name was Judith Montgomery. She was a wild girl, but I loved her. Um, I don't mean--"

"Right."

"She got stabbed to death while trying to buy drugs. The drug thing was wrong, but she didn't deserve to die for it."

"Did they catch the guy?"

"What? Oh, sort of. He got murdered by some other crook. I didn't really care." It was impossible to tell the positive side of the story: that God had redeemed Judith, either for Joan's sake or because He saw something good in the tragic girl. Judith's ghost occasionally visited Joan and urged her not to worry about her.

Veronica was slumped in the passenger seat, all her initial vivacity gone, as if it were an act that she had been putting on. "I lost a best friend too. Lily Kane. Like your friend, she was no angel, but she took me under her wing when I first came to Neptune. Until some bastard bashed her head in."

It was useless to ask what happened to Lily's soul. Joan knew what sort of question Veronica expected. "Did you find out who?"

"Yeah. I was determined to track down the guy. My father originally just wanted me to help out in his office as secretary and receptionist, but I asked him to show me the tricks of the trade, and eventually I caught him. The guy's lawyers keep holding up the trial, but at least he's sitting in jail while they stall. Still, none of that brings Lily back---"

Joan and Veronica stared at each other. The recital of woes was no longer a game of can-you-top-this. It was a matter of shared sympathy, between two girls who had just met.

TBC


	3. Mystery of the Day

**LO, I WILL TELL YOU A MYSTERY**

**Chapter 3 Mystery of the Day**

Another excerpt from Veronica's diary for the day:

_I don't confide easily in people. The only ones I totally trust are Dad and Wallace. Even then, it took me almost a year to build up the nerve to tell Wallace about being molested at the Party, and Dad still doesn't know (unless, of course, he's learned how to decrypt my diary)_

_Yet I blurted out much of the Lily story to the Girardi girl, a virtual stranger. Why? Maybe it was just the weird coincidence that both of us had lost girlfriends to violence. But I wonder if it's something else: if we were MEANT to be friends. But, if so, who or what could have done the " meaning"?_

_Fortunately, before I revealed anything further, we got distracted._

------

"Follow that car!" yelled Veronica, breaking the intimate mood.

Joan reflexively obeyed, turning her key in the ignition and pulling out of the parking slot. "What car?"

"That blue Mercedes."

"I see it." She hit the accelerator, at the same time feeling as if somebody had just dumped her in an action movie. "Would you mind telling me why we're doing this?"

"I saw a guy snatch a lady's purse, while we were talking. Then he got in the car and drove off."

"That's terrible." Joan had been too wound up in the exchanged confidences to pay much attention to the outside world.

"More than that, it's mysterious. If you have a car like that, you're rich. In Neptune we call people like that oh-niners, from their ZIP code. In which case, you don't go around snatching purses. At worst, you hire somebody else to do it."

"Maybe he stole the car," said Joan, starting to get in the spirit of the thing. This was cool, an actual adventure instead of a plodding mission.

"Still mysterious. What could be in the purse comparable to the value of the car?"

"Hey! He's pulling into an alley."

"Follow him."

Joan obeyed. But the guy suddenly hit his breaks, apparently finding the alley a dead end, and Joan had to follow suit to avoid a rear-end collision. The driver got out and started running to his right. To Joan's horror, Veronica tugged her door open and chased after him.

For one second Joan was tempted to follow Veronica. Then she remembered the last time she had blindly followed somebody into a hairy situation: she had wound up in a junkyard with a half-crazy boy who had a gun. That had turned out to be God's plan at the time, but it was not an experience that she wanted to repeat.

But she couldn't drive away. That would leave Veronica stranded in danger.

Joan took out her cell phone and debated whether to call her father. Tattling was a no-no for a teenager, but Joan was 18 and understood that circumstances altered cases. Would Judith still be alive today if somebody had "tattled" about her drug problem?

"Will Girardi here."

"Dad, Veronica's run off."

"What?"

"Can you have Mr. Mars listen in?"

"Yeah, this is a speaker-phone -- OK."

Joan tried to summarize what had happened. The Dads seemed to argue for a while, apparently away from the microphone so Joan could not hear the details, then her own father got back.

"Joan, we don't want you to be a target, so back out of that alley. Try to park nearby so that Veronica can spot you when if she comes back."

"When," she could hear Mr. Mars voice correcting the conditional.

"Whatever," muttered Joan. She was putting her gear in reverse when she spotted a familiar figure. "Hey, she's coming back."

"Then let her in and get the hell out of there."

But Veronica did not get in immediately. Instead she crossed between the cars, then knelt at the Mercedes' back right tire. Joan couldn't see what she was doing, her own hood being in the way. But after a few seconds the girl straightened out again and walked to Joan's car. Joan went into reverse the instant Veronica closed the door.

"Is that my Dad on the phone? Awesome -- Dad, tell the police to go to an alley between fifth and fourth street off of T -- They'll probably trust Mr. Girardi -- they'll find a guy in a blue Mercedes with a flat tire and a stolen wallet -- he has the stolen wallet, not the car."

Joan heard some furious squawking on the cell phone.

"Um, yeah, we can discuss that at home. Bad connection, ssssss, I'm losing you." She snapped the phone shut.

----------

Veronica told her story back at the hotel. Present were the Girardis, Mr. Mars, and a woman from the FBI. Apparently Joan's Dad had met the FBI lady after the courthouse bombing in Arcadia the previous January. Joan was just relieved to see that it wasn't Lucy Preston, who had tried to pin the bombing on some of her school friends.

"I wasn't really trying to catch the guy when I chased him. After all, he might have a gun, and all I had was my taser. He might have disposed of the evidence, too. But I did get him a way from the Mercedes long enough to flatten one of the tires. Once I was gone, I figured he'd double back and try to drive away again."

The F.B.I. agent sighed. "You realize, of course, that poking holes in people's tires is illegal? But if something comes of this, we might overlook it."

"If you catch a guy with a lady's pocketbook, and find out why he stole it, wouldn't that be something?" Veronica seemed self-confident.

"Chief Girardi convinced us to put up a watch on the alley. We'll see. I'll join them now, and get back to you." The F.B.I agent started out the door.

"Give my love to Agent Morris," called out Veronica.

The door shut, and Will turned on Veronica. "Okay, now we can talk in privacy. How dare you put my daughter in danger. Chasing a guy through busy city streets like some B-movie? Cornering a guy who might have had a gun?"

"Will's right," said Mr. Mars, sounding angry for the first time since Joan had met him. "You think that you're invincible because of your brains and that taser. But you're not. Remember when tried to catch Lily's murderer? You'd have died, and horribly, if I hadn't shown up. And it wasn't a slam-dunk for me either; I was in the hospital for a couple of weeks."

"I could tell this was nothing like that."

"You could tell? That might just justify your risking your life, Veronica. It doesn't excuse endangering my old colleague's daughter as well. You're going back to California for the rest of the spring holiday, young lady."

Joan was busy thinking. Was this afternoon's incident an accident, or part of her mission? Her missions seemed to be of two types: helping somebody else, or a learning experience, or both. To be sure, she didn't seem to have learned anything yet, but maybe that's because the mission wasn't over, and she was more convinced than ever that it had to do with Veronica. And leaving God out of it (not an easy thing to do), Joan simply liked Veronica, who seemed to share Grace's pugnacity and seemed to do a better job of fighting back, to boot.. "Don't punish Veronica like that. I'm okay with what happened.".

"It's not okay," Will said. "Considering what might have --"

_"DAD!_ I'm 18 years old and I'm getting married in two months. I'm an adult! Don't I have a right to say when I'm okay?"

Her Dad fell silent, but Joan could guess what he was thinking. Luke had explained to her that, to people unaware of her divine missions, Joan appeared as weirdly unfocused, chasing one enthusiasm after another and then dropping them after a few days. Doubtlessly her father thought she was exercising poor judgement now. But he could not say that in front of the Mars couple.

"All right," Will said finally. "Veronica can stay, but from now on, we concentrate on the loan shark case. No more dragging my daughter into side investigations."

"I'm fine with that," said Mars. "Veronica?"

"Yeah, I promise."

But it did not occur to anybody to extract a promise from Joan---

------

_I've screwed up before, like the time I thought the farm commune was a devious cult when they were really just some sensitive kids trying to get away from it all. This time the screw-up was in the tactics, not the deduction. I'm used to having my own car and driving where I please, and it was awkward to have the Girardi girl at the wheel. I'm used to people like Wallace and Mac who nearly always go along with my plans. And even Wallace sometimes complains that I'm too bossy._

_I was surprised when she stood up to our Dads and defended me. It didn't fit the way I had sized up her character. I wonder, what makes her tick?_

TBC


	4. Joan's Secret

**LO, I WILL TELL YOU A MYSTERY**

**Chapter 4 Joan's Secret**

After having dinner in their hotel, Joan and her Dad retreated to their room, basically a single large room with two beds.. Joan was getting a little nervous. One of the advantages to being the only girl in the family was that she had a separate room at home, a retreat where she didn't have to be "on guard" against giving herself away to other people. That was important to a girl who was harboring a very weird secret.

But now she was going to be around Dad all evening and through the night. Joan was afraid of blurting something out. She vividly remembered how Grace had overheard one of her conversations while sleeping over last summer -- though, in fact, God had intended it that way.

"Did you and Mr. Mars figure out anything while we were out?" asked Joan, considering that a safe topic for conversation.

"We came up with several suspects," Will replied. "There's one of them that you might be very interested in. Ryan Hunter."

Joan gasped. Whatever you called her special relationship with God -- errand girl? Handmaiden? -- Ryan Hunter had done it earlier and for a longer period of time. But his relationship had soured after his fiancee had died in an accident and Hunter had blamed God for not saving her. Hunter knew about Joan and had once tried to tempt her away from her calling. Fortunately, he had left Arcadia last fall, after Luke had dug up information on his earlier life, and she had been able to put him out of her mind.

Will knew little of that, of course. To him, Hunter was a half-crazed rich man who had committed hate crimes, desecrating the local church and synagogue in Arcadia, plus lying about his past..

"When you originally tried to tell me Ryan Hunter was a criminal a year ago, I didn't believe you, and it was one of the worst failings of my career," said Will. "I'm not going to make the same mistake again. So what led you to expect that he was guilty of the sabotage?"

"He paid me a visit the day before, in my bookstore, and talked about how he hated God. So I figured he was the one behind the desecrations."

"Why would he tell you that?"

"It's complicated, Dad." Joan said evasively. How could you tell an atheist that you worked with God?

"We have all evening. And if there's a link between you and him, I need to know. That might affect how we investigate him."

Joan thought quickly. "Well, you already knew he had weird ideas. Somehow he got in his mind that I was special. A prophetess, or saint, or something. He thought that it was important to win me over." _There. I've planted the idea of what I'm really like, blaming it on Hunter. If I have a chance to tell the truth later, at least the idea's in the open._

"Where did he get that idea?"

"I don't know_." I really don't. When we first encountered each other after Adam's rescue, he looked at me and immediately knew my secret, and I never knew how. Maybe that's a gift you get after serving Him for a certain period._

"It might have been dangerous to refuse to cooperate with him, Joan."

"I didn't think I was in danger. Violence, physically hurting people, didn't seem to be his thing. He damaged property -- what he considered God's property."

"But the Rivers' auto accident--"

"Maybe he's changed, or maybe it isn't him."

"Good point. I'll think about it. Thanks, Joan, you gave a lot of information which may prove useful."

They talked of other matters -- Joan's upcoming wedding, the final months of high school -- until it was time to go to bed. To Joan it was an example of how close she and her Dad could be, when she wasn't keeping a secret.

_Why do I have to lie? Because he wouldn't believe the truth, of course. Unless God backed me up, as He did with Luke and Grace, and later Adam. I wish He would. But if only we had a more open relationship, like Veronica and her Dad---._

With those thoughts in mind, she fell asleep in her bed.

She found herself walking down a dark path of packed earth. There were skeletons standing/hanging (she couldn't tell which, and didn't want to examine the matter in detail) on each side of the path, grinning at her. Well, of course they couldn't help grinning, but there seemed something derisive about it. In the distance she heard something go Hoo-hoo-hoo, but could not see anything. The only source of light was a full moon, and that only illumined objects close by.

"Am I in Hell?" she called out.

"No, Joan," said a voice, which made her jump even though it was soft and gentle. She turned around and found herself staring at Goth God. "This is my version of Heaven."

"Well, you could've fooled me."

"What was fooling you was cultural conditioning, Joan. The full moon, the owls hooting, the skeletons of the dead -- none of this is evil in itself. They are all part of nature, as good as the sun, and eagles, and the living human body."

_There's a lesson in this, but I've got better things to think about at the moment._ "All right, have it your way. I've got a question. Why can't I tell Dad about you?"

"Nothing is stopping you."

"You know what I mean. I need you to back me up, or otherwise he'll think I belong back in Crazy Camp. You did it with Grace and Luke."

"Grace and Luke already believed in Me, in their own ways. It was part of Grace's family heritage, and Luke had read Einstein's sayings about me. But how would your Dad react?"

"I guess he'd be upset," admitted Joan.

"Exactly. 'God' has negative connotations for him. So either he would think that his daughter is enslaved by something evil, or that his philosophy of life has been wrong."

"Well, it IS wrong, isn't it?"

"Not in an important way. Your father has developed a moral code of helping and protecting people. He doesn't associate it with Me because he has a bad idea of Me, but I'm cool with that. He's doing the right thing." Goth God waved his arm at the weird surroundings. "That's why I'm showing you THIS. To teach you that Godliness can exist in forms where you would not recognize it. Do not worry about him, Joan. Worry about the men who would create a car crash, or mug a woman on a sidewalk."

Joan tried to push the worry about her Dad out of her head. "So that's the real mission now? Solve the mystery? Nothing to do with Veronica?"

Goth God grinned. It made him look like one of his skeletons. "Oh, Veronica's involved too. Didn't anybody ever tell you about multitasking?"

Joan groaned. This really did look like a nightmare

TBC


	5. Heroes and Heroines

**LO, I WILL TELL YOU A MYSTERY**

**Chapter 5 Heroes and Heroines**

_(Author's Note: Grace's story of the Lands and Heroes was taken from Bertholt Brecht's play GALILEO, with some deliberate changes.)_

_Dear Diary:_

_It's been several days since I've been able to write, since I've been separated from my laptop. I'll explain that soon. I have time to catch up now because I'm sort of grounded for the first time in my life. Dad's caught some bad habits from Mr. Girardi, and I'll explain that, too._

_Anyway, on the morning after our chase, the Girardis met us for breakfast, and the man told us that the police had caught the guy in the Mercedes with his cousin's pocketbook, and a will inside. Joan was puzzled, so we spelled it out. Apparently the jerk thought he was going to inherit a lot of money, hence the Mercedes. But his cousin had found a later will that favored her and froze him out, and was on the way to a lawyer's office to ask about filling it with the probate court. His last chance was snatching her pocketbook, but it didn't it occur to him that a bright girl might notice the odd connection between Mercedes cars and purse-snatching. Where there's a will, there's a way to mess things up._

_Girardi had also gotten his colleagues in Arcadia to transmit some mug photos over the Internet. Dad decided to have the Rivers look at them, but because of the three-hour time-lag between Washington and California, we'd have to wait until almost noon to call them._

_The Dads suggested that Joan and I repeat yesterday's plan of going to see the sights -- and this time, no detours. We agreed, and we had better stick to the agreement. I didn't know if Dad put a GPS transmitter in the Girardis' car, but I wouldn't put it past him._

----

Joan gazed at the magnificent Lincoln Memorial, and wondered. She knew God had chosen other "friends" throughout the ages and molded them to carry out great deeds; was Lincoln one of them? Or did he attain greatness on his own? Somehow she hoped that the latter was true.

Veronica had a peculiar expression as she beheld the edifice. "What are you thinking?" Joan asked, then hoped desperately that Veronica did not ask her the same thing.

"It just occurred to me," muttered Veronica, "that we don't have any monuments in Neptune. Or any heroes worth building memorials to, for that matter. Tour guides may say 'There's the former mansion of famous movie star Aaron Echols', but that's not the same thing."

John had heard vaguely of a movie star named Aaron Echols. Veronica sounded very bitter to utter his name, and Joan decided not to press the subject.

"My friend Grace once told me a weird joke," Joan said. "A German says to a Swiss man: "I pity your land. It has no heroes.". And the Swiss replied "I pity your land. It needs heroes"'".

Veronica laughed. "That's Neptune. It needs heroes, and doesn't have any."

"Looks like a lot of people walking down that path there," remarked Joan, looking around. "What's over there?"

Veronica was apparently used to orienting herself -- which was not surprising if she had a habit of chasing strange cars. "There's a sign. The Vietnam War Memorial."

Joan's mother, an artist and art teacher, once described the difference between the two memorials. The Lincoln: a great white edifice thrusting up into the sky, largely intended to be viewed from the outside. The Vietnam: a dip in the ground, bounded on one side by black rock, inviting one to enter and contemplate..

Joan could not think of them in mere artistic terms, though. To her they represented two forms of heroism. Lincoln had achieved two great acts: freeing slaves, and saving the nation from the barbarians who would have torn it apart. The soldiers listed on the wall had died for -- Joan wasn't sure exactly what, since the tragedy had taken place two decades before she was born, but they had died for something. And to think that Joan often bitched if handed a new mission, even one she knew would have good ripples. She felt, vaguely, that she should somehow live up to the two monuments.

The two girls were walking further in the park when Joan's cell phone rang.

"This is your Dad," said Girardi's voice. "We were in luck; we managed to reach the Rivers early. They recognized Hunter's picture. He wasn't the person who negotiated their loan, but they've seen him in the office, probably the moneybags behind the operation. Keith thinks he has enough to return to California. I'm going to ask the police chief in Arcadia for permission to go with the Marses. It's way out of our jurisdiction, but there are a LOT of people in Arcadia who will be glad once Hunter is behind bars..

"I? Not us?" That was going to short out her mission, just when she had developed fresh motivation to carry it out!

"I'm sending you back to Arcadia, Joan. I don't want you getting near Hunter. Yeah, I know you think he wouldn't hurt you, but that was a year ago."

"What is he saying?" asked Veronica. Joan handed the cell to her and Veronica listened for a long time, doubtlessly hearing the Hunter story from Will's point of view. Finally she shut it off and returned it. "I guess we better go. I'm glad we met, Joan."

"Yeah," said Joan, too busy thinking to respond in kind.

The girls got back in the Girardi's car, and drove east along Constitution Avenue, the park's north boundary. It was not the most direct route home, but how could two tourists resist a path that took them by the White House and the Smithsonian Museums? At least that's what Joan would say if Veronica asked about her itinerary..

They reached 14th Street, one of the city's main thoroughfares, and Joan took a right turn, heading toward the Potomac River and the Commonwealth of Virginia on the other side.

"What are you doing?" shouted Veronica. "We're going the wrong way!"

"No," said Joan. "I'm going to National Airport and catching a plane to California, before Dad can stop me. I'm seeing this case through."

Even with her attention on the highway bridge, Joan was aware that Veronica was rummaging for something in her purse. "I can't go along with this, Joan. I promised your Dad and mine that I wouldn't drag you into trouble again."

"You're not dragging me into trouble. I'm dragging YOU into trouble."

Veronica laughed. "Wow. OK, I'll let myself be dragged. I didn't know that you had it in you. Both the courage, and the cynical rationalization."

"You'd be surprised if you knew what I was really like," said Joan_. Boy, what an understatement. God's errand girl--- "_What were you rummaging for?"

"My taser. Don't worry, I left it in California. And even if I had it and disagreed with you, I'd know better than to zap somebody driving me over a river. Too many people whom I know have gotten drowned."

_Ick. Remind me not to get on her bad side_. "OK. California, here I come."

TBC


	6. Crossing Over

**LO, I WILL TELL YOU A MYSTERY**

**Chapter 6 Crossing Over**

_(Author's Note: Joan's "my older brother's wife" is Sister Lily. I had Kevin marry her in an earlier story, REVELATION OF JOAN)_

_(Author's Note: Veronica's comparison of the FBI agent to Xena is an in-joke. Lucy "Xena" Lawless played the agent in the second-season episode "Donut Run")_

_(Author's Note: Veronica's visit to the church occurred in her second-season episode "Rashard and Wallace go to White Castle")_

Another excerpt from Veronica's diary:

_It was like a miracle. Not only was there a direct Los Angeles flight about to leave, but it had two empty seats together. What was more, the desk clerk offered to sell us tickets cheap to "fill up the plane". On the other hand, as we walked away, I thought I sensed the clerk address my friend as "Joan" and give her a wave. Maybe he was a friend of hers, doing her a favor, and I hope he didn't lose his job over it._

_When we got in the air I felt free: no way Mr. Girardi could pull us back to Earth and retrieve his daughter. But Joan was still worried. "Suppose your Dad phoned ahead? Is there anybody in Neptune that could stop us?"_

_Good question. Joan was 18, technically an adult with a right to go anywhere she liked, so we were talking about private persuasion. My generation -- Logan, Mac, Wallace, Beaver -- would probably accept my judgement about Joan. Dad would never ask a favor of Lamb. That left deputies, lawyers, other detectives -- most of them knew me as well as Dad and probably wouldn't want to get caught in a family argument. Unless -- I suddenly remembered Joan's mention that she was getting married. Kids in Neptune didn't want to commit that early. And I noticed that Joan had worn loose-fitting blouses and sweaters both days. A girl might do that if --_

_"You're not pregnant, are you?" I asked._

_"NO!" she shouted, getting the attention of several passengers. Sinking in her seat and lowering her voice, she added: "Why do people always ask me that?"_

_"We may be doing something dangerous. I don't want to risk a baby getting harmed."_

_"There's no baby," she insisted. "No chance of one. I'm still a virgin."_

_"Awesome." That was something else you didn't often find in Neptune. Even Meg had succumbed to temptation._

_Joan thought I was about sarcastic, and apparently wanted to convince me she was not totally uncool: "Well, I HAVE let Adam see me naked---"_

_After that she felt justified in prying into my love life. I was NOT going to tell about being molested at the party, or about the boyfriend who had to flee across the Mexican border pursued by a lady FBI agent who looked like Xena the Warrior Princess. I did admit to sleeping with Duncan last fall, and saying vaguely that it didn't last. If I had been asking the questions, I wouldn't have believed myself for an instant, but Joan accepted it. Dammit, why does that girl always make me feel guilty? _

_-----------_

Joan had never been this far from home. As Veronica drove from Los Angeles to Neptune on a seaside highway, Joan noted how the very landscape -- hilly and barren -- differed from the fertile coastal plain that she was used to. Three hours of jet lag increased her sense of disorientation. Irrationally, she wondered whether she had left God behind in Arcadia. Of course she hadn't: God was everywhere A switch of coasts wouldn't make a difference. After all, God had even eased their way by taking the form of an airline clerk, though how he had moved passengers around or reduced the airfare without getting somebody in trouble was a mystery to Joan..

"Another hour to drive," commented Veronica. "Maybe you can spend the time telling me about this Hunter guy."

_I can't tell her everything. But I can let her have the same story as Dad._

"Hunter was a rich guy who thought he had a, let's say, religious calling. But that ended when his fiancée was killed in an accident. He considered it an Act of God -- literally. Something that God was responsible for and should be punished for."

"How do you punish God?"

"Hunter's idea was to trash religious buildings -- a Catholic church, a synagogue, and a mosque. He didn't regard it as hurting people -- if anything, he thought he was helping the congregations by showing them that God was weak."

"How did you get involved?"

"Several ways. . I had friends in all three congregations. My older brother's wife worked at the church, my best friend was the rabbi's daughter. But the main thing was, Hunter had a personal obsession about me. Thought I was a girl Messiah or prophetess or something, and he personally tried to convert me. Didn't work. Eventually my brother found some compromising information on the Internet, and Hunter fled Arcadia."

"Religion makes people do weird things."

"It inspires people to do noble things, too," said Joan indignantly. "Ripples can be good or bad."

"Sorry. You're a religious believer?"

"Not in the usual sense. I don't go to church. But I believe that there is a God and that He has a plan for me." _Yeah, because He keeps butting into my life to tell me so._

Veronica fell silent for a long time. Joan thought that she had decided to drop the subject. But when she spoke, she sounded unprecedently subdued.

"A couple of months ago, I was on the trail of a mystery, and it took me to a church. At first I thought, it's just one more building, nothing to be awed by. But when I got inside, I felt -- I don't know. Like "some god was in this place" and I was profaning it."

"While I was waiting," Veronica continued, "the priest came up and asked if I wanted to confess. In order to say something, I said that I enjoyed catching criminals and asked if that was sinful. He said that it depended on whether I got a kick out of bringing people down. I never have figured out the answer to that. How did a perfect stranger understand my character so well? Unless, maybe, there's a God and the priest was in tune with him?"

"I meet a lot of weird strangers," said Joan, and left it at that.

-----

Veronica and her father lived in an old motel that had been converted to apartments. It gave them amenities like a swimming pool, but lacked the coziness and personality that Joan associated with her home. Where, for example, would the men of the family store their eternally uncompleted Boat?

Veronica cooked a supper for Joan and herself. Not Italian-American cuisine, but Joan scarcely expected that. Exactly what had happened to Veronica's mother wasn't clear, but this was a household run by a practical middle-age guy and a teenager.

As they ate, Joan noted Veronica's wrinkled blouse and jeans, and realized her own clothes were in a similar state.. They were the same clothes the girls had worn when hiking through the monuments. "I wish I could change into something fresh, but I didn't bring any other clothes."

"I'd loan you some, but I don't think mine would fit," Veronica said lightly. That was an understatement: Veronica was 3 inches shorter than Joan, and much more slender. Then she brightened. "Hey, that gives me an idea. We've got to get something done by tomorrow, before your father shows up and drags you back to the East Coast. How do you get a loan shark's attention?"

"Ask him for a loan?"

"Right. And how do you convince him that you are desperate enough to go to a loan shark?"

"Wear worn-out clothes as if you didn't have a choice?" Joan was catching on to the way Veronica thought.

"Right. I'm going to pay your Mr. Hunter a visit."

TBC


	7. Jumping the Loan Shark

**LO, I WILL TELL YOU A MYSTERY**

**Chapter 7 Jumping the Loan Shark**

Excerpt from Veronica's diary:

_Joan and I decided to drive over to the loan shark's office. Originally I was considering breaking in, but to my surprise it was lit up and seemingly open for business, even though it was Friday night. The American work ethic, I guess. To Joan that was actually an advantage: it meant I could put my scheme in effect before her Dad showed up and dragged her back to the East Coast. Personally I had hoped that she would be out of the way, in case this turned messy, but the universe rarely cooperated with me.._

_"OK, this is how we'll handle it," I said. "You need to stay out of sight, because if Hunter's there he can recognize you. I'll be wearing a wire. It'll transmit to a tape out here, but you can also listen in. If I run into trouble --"_

_"Then I charge to the rescue, right?" Joan said eagerly._

_"NO. You make yourself scarce, then call Weevil Navarro and have HIM charge to the rescue." Too bad this was spring vacation and most of my friends were out of town. Most people went TO Neptune for vacation, but if you lived there, you wanted to get OUT. But Weevil couldn't afford to leave. "I'll give you Weevil's number. Don't leave the rental car at his place; his cousin runs a chop shop ---"_

_It was a good thing that we were still in the rental car. If somebody was looking out the window, my red convertible would have created quite the wrong impression._

_----_

Joan sat in the front car. She saw Veronica go into the office under the big neon sign advertising EASY WAY; after that she had to depend on what she heard from the bug.

A man introduced himself as Nick Harriman and invited Veronica to sit down. Definitely not Hunter's voice, which Joan was sure that she would recognize even after nearly a year.

Then Veronica went into an amazing act. Just listening to it was awesome; it was too bad Joan couldn't see her. Veronica, with a hysterical edge to her voice, gave her name as Kristin. She and her "big sister Amber" had run away from Los Angeles and come to Neptune to enjoy the sun and surf, though they also had vague notions of getting jobs in the service economy there. The jobs had not materialized, and their rent was coming due. If the girls could not cover it, they would be out on the streets.

At this point there was a crashing sound, and Veronica's voice saying, "Oh, how clumsy of me." Footsteps, and Harriman's voice, sounding much louder than usual, assured her that everything was all right. More footsteps and Joan could hear Veronica mutter "S---" under her breath, though she couldn't tell what her friend was swearing about..

"So how much money do you need for that rent?" asked Harriman a moment later..

"A thousand dollars."

"That's a lot of rent for a couple of girls."

"Yeah, we went in for the luxury type apartment. Stupid of us."

"If I put up a thousand, would you be able to repay it by the end of the month?"

"Yeah, cool."

"Let me see some ID."

Joan held her breath. But Veronica must have anticipated that question. Maybe she had a fake ID with her.

"Fine," said Harriman. "OK, fill in the blanks on this form----"

-----

"Now I know he's crooked," said Veronica, settling into the driver's seat.

"Why?"

"He never asked for proof that we could pay him back. I just said two words and he accepted it, though by my story there was no source of money.. Even a loan shark knows that you can't get blood from a turnip, no matter how much you beat up the turnip."

"Then why did he give you that money?" Joan asked, staring at the wad in Veronica's hand. It was probably the first time in Joan's life that she had seen a thousand dollars in cash.

"Because a pretty girl in need of money -- and I could tell he was sizing me up -- has an option that a guy doesn't. Prostitution. If 'Kristin' doesn't pay back, he'll probably turn her over to a pimp."

"Oh my God." Joan remembered that her father had broken up a prostitution racket preying on immigrant girls, roughly a year ago. What shocked him the most, Will said afterward, was that some girls weren't any older than Joan. There but for the grace of God go I. In a desperate attempt to change the subject, Joan asked, "What were you cursing about in the middle of the meeting?"

"Oh, that. I 'accidentally' knocked some knick-knacks off his desk, hoping to plant my bug while picking things up. But he immediately circled around his desk and picked up the things with me. Either he's very gallant or he's very paranoid. Either way, I can't listen in on the office."

Veronica's casual attitude toward eavesdropping gave Joan the willies. Suppose somebody listened in on one of her conversations with God? Grace had actually done that, a year ago, but then God had let her do it because He wanted her to know about Joan. He knew everything, and if He knew somebody was listening in on a conversation, he could probably do something about it, so maybe Joan shouldn't worry. Still, it gave her a strong sensee for privacy..

At this point a car drove past, and Joan felt a strange, yet familiar sensation. As if a cold wind was blowing past her. The funny thing was that all the car's windows were closed and the AC was not on.

Déjà vu. Joan remembered that wind. It always blew when Hunter was nearby. Maybe it was a special sensation given her by God to warn her when Hunter was a possible threat.

"Turn around. Follow that car."

"Why?"

"You owe me a car-following, don't you?"

Veronica grimaced and did a U-turn.

-----------

_Without a bug, we had to sneak up to the office and peak in the window to see what was happening. Hunter -- I recognized the face from those computerized mug shots that Girardi had shown us -- was having a huge argument with Harriman. I wished that I had succeeded in planting that bug -- or, for that matter, that I had learned to read lips at some point, like HAL in 2001. They say that automation causes the erosion of some vital skills, and they are right._

_At one point Hunter hesitated and glared toward our window. Joan squeaked and took to her heals. I got my taser out and kept watching: Hunter seemed to lose interest in the window and turned his attention back to Harriman. I decided to give up and follow Joan._

_Maybe Joan was finally convinced that this was too dangerous for her, that it would be better to wait for our Dads. As far as confrontations went, I agreed. But Pride compelled me to take the case as far as I could before Dad took over. In the safety of our car, I got out my cell and punched in a familiar number._

_"Mac here."_

_"This is Veronica. How's vacation?"_

_"Fine, if you like sitting on a beach and getting sand in your bikini. I don't."_

_"How'd you like to do a computer search?"_

_"Cool. I'll make this a busman's holiday."_

_"Huh?"_

_"British expression I read about. Never mind."_

_"OK. Find out if there is anything sinister about the name Nick Harriman."_

_"Will do."_

_Mac's call came back when Joan and I were about to settle down to bed in the Mars apartment. "Hello?"_

_"This is Mac. That Nick Harriman guy doesn't seem to have a record. But I then asked for a cultural search, and got a wierdy."_

_"Shoot."_

_"If you drop the H, you get Arriman. And it turns out that in ancient Persian mythology, Ahriman was the name of the Devil!"_

_TBC_

_(Author's Note: Issac Asimov also based a name on "Ahriman" in his story "The Last Trump"; his version was R. E. Mann)_


	8. The Devil You Know

**LO, I WILL TELL YOU A MYSTERY**

**Chapter 8 The Devil You Know**

More from Veronica's diary:

_If Mac had been there, I'd have stared at her. Since she wasn't, I stared at my phone, which accomplished nothing. "Do you really think Harriman is associated with the devil?" I was an agnostic; I wasn't sure I believed in God, and fairly sure I didn't believe in Her opposite._

_"You didn't ask me to think; you asked me to see if there was 'anything sinister', and I did," Mac said, with that I'm-a-sidekick-but-I'm-no-dummy air. "By the way, 'Nick' is another name for the devil, but I presumed you knew that already."_

_"Right. You did what I asked. Enjoy the rest of your vacation, and may you get a lot more sand in your bikini." I hung up._

_"What was that about?" asked Joan._

_I explained about the devil names. Joan seemed a lot more intrigued than I expected. "He's never mentioned the devil--"_

_"Who hasn't?"_

_Joan looked flustered. "Um -- Hunter."_

_That name was an afterthought on Joan's part, I could tell.. It sounded like there was somebody involved in the investigation that she didn't want me to know about. Her father? But why deny his role? And then I remembered my first impression of Joan, the girl with a secret. She still had one._

_I could probably dig in and figure it out, but it would be a bad idea. There have been occasions when I've unearthed information better left buried. I liked Joan, but once our fathers got here they'd probably separate us. I didn't want Joan to remember me as Veronica the Nosy._

_Instead I turned my attention toward sleeping arrangements. My bed was a single and could accommodate only one girl. I suggested that Joan use my father's bed, but she didn't like the idea: sleep in a bed of a man who hadn't even invited her in, like Goldilocks? So we agreed that I would take Dad's bed and let Joan use mine._

_-----_

_**SATURDAY MORNING, REALLY, REALLY EARLY**_

_The phone rang, waking me up. This was, after all, a detective business where an emergency could come up at any time of the day or night. The office phone forwarded to our apartment. "Hullo?"_

_"Mars Investigations?" asked a deep voice._

_"Yup." I was too sleepy to articulate anything but a "u"._

_"I know that you're investigating Nick Harriman. I want to help. I work for him, but I'm sick of it. Just want to keep my name out of it."_

_Ah, the classic disgruntled employee. I perked up. "What are you offering?"_

_"I'll leave a key to the office at the foot of the mailbox outside. You can use it to get in the office during the night and search for evidence. The only catch is, sometimes Harriman visits the office in the middle of the night. You'll have to avoid him."_

_It sounded like a possible trap -- except that the caller was explicitly warning me of the possibility._

_"I'll think about it."_

_----_

Joan woke up. The clock said 4 o'clock, which meant 7 o'clock Arcadia time; Joan's own biological clock had gotten her up.

Veronica, when Joan went to look for her, wasn't in her father's room, or anywhere else in the apartment. In the breakfast nook she found a note:

_Following up a lead. Be back soon -- Veronica._

Joan frowned. Veronica's note sounded optimistic, but Veronica did not understand the situation. To her the devil connection was a joke. God had never discussed the devil with Joan, but knowing the power of one Being could help her guess at the power of the other.

Joan had been dead weight for most of this trip. Maybe this was her mission -- saving Veronica from a situation in which she was in over her head.

She looked out the window at the apartments' parking lot, which was well lit even at this time of night. Veronica's convertible was gone, but the rental car was still there. If Veronica had also left the keys behind--

She had.

Joan, in the parking lot, was just about to unlock the car door when a familiar voice behind her said "Waitaminute, Joan."

"Aaaiiiee!" screamed Joan. She turned around to find herself looking at Tough Guy God. "PLEASE don't sneak up on me at night like that. Particularly in THAT form."

"On edge?" Tough Guy asked unapologetically. "Good. You should be on your guard."

"OK, I'm on guard," Joan said testily. "Now comes a riddle, right?"

"No. Normally I give you riddles because it exercises your mind to figure them out. But right now we're short on time, so I'll give you straight facts. Harriman has captured Veronica. He's moved her from his office to another hideout, but I can direct you there."

"Fine." Joan unlocked the driver door and got in, while Tough Guy God crossed over and got in the passenger side. What was wrong with this picture? "Hey! You expect me to chauffeur you over? Why can't you just teleport us there? Or ask a couple of your Four Horseman for a ride?" The latter was a joke; Joan was frightened of ordinary horses, let alone supernatural ones bringing the end of the world.

"When I assume human form, I accept human limitations."

Joan rolled her eyes and started the car.

----

Tough Guy God directed her to a house. Even from outside it didn't look like a cozy home like the Girardi's. Windows drawn, yard basically neglected. Probably just a place for "Harriman" to hole up; he didn't care about what people thought of it.

As she got out at the house that Tough Guy God designated, Joan felt a familiar ill wind.

"OK, Hunter," she said in a loud whisper. "I know you're there and I presume you know that I'm here. So let's cut the crap and talk."

Hunter emerged from behind a tree. "If you insist," he said politely, as if they were rivals in a debate instead of cosmic opposites. "But I suggest we hide. Arguing out here would lose the element of surprise."

They retreated behind the trees again. "What have you done with Veronica?"

"Nothing. I didn't hurt the Rivers family either. It was all Harriman's doing."

"You really like taking responsibility, don't you? So what did you do?"

Hunter grimaced. "After your 'army' drove me out of Arcadia, I realized that needed allies of my own, and one was obvious. Lots of religions teach of an Adversary: a devil, as in Christianity, or a God of Evil, as in Zoroastrianism. Since God had not lived up to my expectations, I thought the Adversary might have been maligned. So I searched, and thought I had found him here in Neptune. Ahriman, the God of Evil according to Zoroaster."

Why was he telling her all this? Maybe, even after a year of conflict, he still felt the urge to try to justify himself to Joan, or even talk her over to his side. As long as she stayed loyal to God, his own choice was in question.

"What did you do?"

"Made a pact. It seems that, like God, he puts mysterious restrictions on himself in this world. We decided to use the loan shark business as a front for buying souls. I'd put the money, he'd lend it to bad prospects, then we'd forgive their debts -- nice religious phrase, that -- in return for their souls."

"For all eternity?"

"No. The FAUST legend got that wrong, according to Harriman. We'd have only a life interest, and their ultimate destination would be up to God. Instead of the free-will-but-its-good-for-you crap that your God gives you, we'd have bondsmen under contract. Nobody would get hurt. But when Harriman wrecked the Rivers to force them to pay him back, I realized that he was too earthbound, more interested in money than in souls. I gave your friend an anonymous call encouraging her to break into Harriman's office, but unfortunately he captured her."

It wasn't at all clear to Joan how you could buy somebody's soul and not hurt them. Apparently Hunter had thought it all out to his own satisfaction -- and she didn't really want to learn how Hunter thought. "So now what?"

"So now I'm going to rescue your friend, if you'll stay out of the way."

"You expect me to trust you?"

"YES," came a voice from an unexpected direction. Tough Guy God was still standing next to his car. "He is telling the truth, as far as rescuing Veronica goes. Work with him."

Hunter glared at Tough Guy God with hatred; she remembered that, unlike her, he could recognize God in any guise. But he must have realized that arguing the point would simply slow matter further. "There. Your divine friend supports me."

"Then let's go."

They got on the porch, and Hunter kicked in the door. Joan winced; did sharing Hunter's ends imply accepting his means? But she followed Hunter into the house.

Harriman, who of course had heard his door being kicked in, ran up, but calmed somewhat at seeing Hunter rather than a cop. "What's this about?"

"Let the girl go. Nobody was supposed to get hurt."

Joan saw Veronica behind Harriman in the house's kitchen. Unconscious, and tied to a chair. But Harriman barred her way when she tried to step forward. Much as she hated it, she had to depend on Hunter's negotiation.

"You really believe that? You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs. If we let her go, she'll go straight to the authorities and turn us in. And who's this bitch? You shouldn't have brought your girlfriend."

"Never mind the girls. We can start over somewhere else. Just let her go."

"You're giving me orders? Do you remember who I am?"

"I remember who you said you are, but I have doubts now. Fortunately, there is a simple test. As Shakespeare said four centuries ago in OTHELLO: 'If there art a devil, I cannot kill thee.'

And with no more ado, Hunter drew a pistol out of his pocket and shot Harriman point-blank. The loan shark collapsed, clearly badly wounded. Hunter dashed out of the house. Joan stood, frozen in horror, until she realized that she was the only one who had freedom of action and lives might depend on her.

Stepping to the house's phone, she punched in 911. "Hello? I need police, and an ambulance---"

TBC


	9. All Shall be Revealed

**LO, I WILL TELL YOU A MYSTERY**

**Chapter 9 All Shall be Revealed**

The fathers arrived in Neptune the next day, but things were too busy for them to concentrate on chastising their daughters. Harriman's assault of Veronica and Hunter's shooting of his partner gave the law a justification for investigating their business, and Will, being an experienced policeman, offered to "share his expertise" (i.e., make sure that Sheriff Lamb did not screw up). Meanwhile Veronica was put in the hospital, where her father hovered over her.

The doctors reported that there were burns on her chest between her breasts, and that her heartbeat was irregular. The symptoms mystified them until Detective Mars explained about Veronica's taser weapon. Evidently Harriman had managed to grab it from Veronica when he caught her in his office, then tortured her by pressing it against her chest for several seconds -- continual exposure rather than the quick shocks Veronica usually used to defend herself. Fortunately the damage, internal and external, would heal, but it would take time. Harriman would also recover and stand trial, though, legally, things were a mess, as Chief Girardi explained to his daughter.

"There are a lot of legal ramifications to investigations, things you'll learn in your law course, and that often get glossed over on TV. Even the police can't enter a locked office without a warrant, and Veronica's just a private citizen. Harriman could accuse her of burglary, and claim that any incriminating evidence we find was planted by Veronica. On the other hand, his lawful response was limited to self-defense and calling the police. The fact that he tortured her and moved her to his house will look peculiar to a jury."

"But Hunter said he left the key, and he was a part-owner of the office. Doesn't that justify her being there?

"If your story is convincing to the jury. Your entering his house with Hunter was a bad idea, too."

The idea of testifying brought up another worry, and one that she couldn't discuss with her father. Over the last three years she had told various white lies to avoid mentioning her relationship to God. But this would be a matter of testifying under oath, something she fully understood the importance of, being a cop's daughter and an AP Law student. Did God expect her to lie if the crucial question came up? As Luke had pointed out last fall, could God himself exempt her from his moral code, the commandment to not bear false witness?

But she had a more immediate problem: Veronica's mood. Mr. Mars spent nearly all his time at the hospital, leaving the investigation to Joan's father, but at one point Veronica asked for a private talk with her girl friend.

"What a way to end a career, right?" Veronica said bitterly from her hospital bed, all her surface wit gone. "Almost getting electrocuted by my own weapon, and getting saved because the enemy's sidekick decided to shoot him. Life's a bitch."

"You're just depressed, Veronica." Joan had a brother whose dreams of the future had all evaporated when he was paralyzed in an accident; she understood depression.

"Yeah? You don't know the entire story. Did I tell you why I wanted to be a detective?"

"Your best friend got killed."

"That was only part of it. There were other things I didn't want to talk about earlier. Like the time I crashed an oh-niner party with some other social rejects. The rich kids got even by feeding us illegal drugs and encouraging us to make fools of ourselves. One girl had a Popsicle and -- um, never mind. Me, I threw myself at every boy at the party until one -- accepted. I lost my virginity."

"My God."

"It took me a year to find out who was responsible. I was afraid to tell Dad; he might have killed the guy who defiled me. The irony was, it was a nice guy, but too zonked out to realize that _I_ was zonked out. Then there was my mother. She deserted Dad a year and a half ago, and she left behind evidence that she had betrayed Dad with other men. One betrayal happened a year before I was born, which meant--"

"That your Dad might not really be your father? Gross."

"DNA tests eventually straightened things out, and even before that Dad and I decided that we loved each other too much to let the paternity thing bother us. Anyway, that's what made me want to be a detective like Dad. Spying on people, that was the only way of fighting back."

And normally she fought back brilliantly, Joan realized. But now she was temporarily out of action, and felt that there was nothing outside herself, except her beloved Dad, to do the fighting for her.

Joan finally realized what her mission was.

"Veronica, I have secrets of my own--"

"I sort of guessed that."

"But I think it's important to tell you now. Do you know how I found the house where Harriman took you after you collapsed?"

"I suppose that it was a nifty piece of deduction."

"No. God told me."

"Go -- _who_?"

"For nearly three years now, I've been going on missions for God. For the last year, my brother and best friend have joined in as well. I'm not talking about going to church and volunteering for things. God meets me directly, in some human disguise, and gives me instructions. Usually puzzling ones, but that's part of the plan."

"Plan?"

"I think He's preparing my friends and me for something big in our future. I know I'm already a better girl than I was three years ago. He persuaded Grace and me to take more interested in our schoolwork, to acquire knowledge, instead of considering it as drudgery. I learned to forgive when my boyfriend slept with another girl. Recently He's been encouraging me to study law and law enforcement -- that's why I'm here now. God told me to come to Washington with Dad.."

"So you think you have an inside track with the Ruler of the Universe," mocked Veronica. "How great for you."

"I don't think it's just for me, that's the point. I think I was sent to tell you that you're not alone when you try to fight injustice, Veronica. You're fighting FOR something. For God. If you don't want to think of God as a person that walks up to you on the street, fine. My Dad doesn't believe in a traditional God either, but 'godliness can exist in forms where you might not recognize it.'. Think of yourself as fighting for justice. You're part of something big, Veronica."

----

Excerpt from Veronica's diary:

_Joan told me a very strange story before she left. It's hard to believe, yet it does explain things. Hunter's weird motivation, and his odd obsession with Joan. How she found me when Harriman had kidnapped me. I don't think I'll write it down, just in case Dad or Mac figure out how to decrypt this diary. They don't know Joan the way I do and they'd think she's crazy. It's only in my head, but I don't think I will forget it._

_MONDAY, April 24, 2006._

_Spring holidays are over, my heart is beating regularly again, and everybody is back at school. I found that the skin on my chest was still tender, and decided not to wear a bra. I don't know how obvious that was, but Logan and Dick both ogled me, the jerks._

_But in general, the jerks didn't get on my nerves as much as usual. I could visualize myself as part of my own clique, me and Joan's God, and look down on THEM, figuratively speaking. Psychologically at least, it was a boost._

_I wasn't sure how much to tell Wallace. He and I had been drifting apart since Jackie entered his life, and I certainly wouldn't divulge Joan's secret. Mac startled me a bit by asking "how your wrestling with the devil worked out this weekend"; I'd forgotten that she knew that tidbit._

_But the most interesting encounter of the day was with a cute boy that I had never seen before. I didn't know his name, but he seemed to pick me out in the hallway immediately. "Veronica, I have a mystery that you might be interested in---"_

THE END

_(AUTHOR'S NOTE: VERONICA fans might notice that Veronica's account of her quasi-rape doesn't match the final version we got in the Season 2 finale. That's because I am setting the story in Season 2, before she learned the entire truth._


End file.
